Studies by the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) have already discovered and reported 21 new species of fish in the Xingu River in the last 10 years. Of these, 16 are endemic, that is, they are found only in the waters of the river, which rises in Mato Grosso and flows into the Amazon River.
Research conducted by scientists at the institution currently forms one of the largest databases in Latin America on the subject. That’s what Bruno Bahiana, socio-environmental manager of Norte Energia — concessionaire of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant — says.
“What we observed is that throughout the process, this monitoring proved to be much greater and is already a great legacy, being one of the largest databases of fish species in Latin America”, he said.
Research is conducted at the Xingu Ornamental Fish Aquaculture Laboratory (Laquax) and the Altamira Ichthyology Laboratory (LIA), which were built and equipped by the concessionaire as part of the consideration for the plant concession.
LIA works by analyzing and identifying species from the Xingu River, while Laquax focuses on developing techniques for breeding ornamental fish in captivity.
Most of the fish cataloged are ornamental, as the region is known for having beautiful species — which attracts the attention of the clandestine market. The zebra acari, for example, can be sold for up to US$ 2,000 (about R$ 10,000).
The work of cataloging is important to perpetuate species that, with the action of animal trafficking, can be put at risk of extinction.
This is the case of the brown zebra acari, which, according to UFPA professor Leandro Sousa, is “the species with the lowest known geographical distribution for the genus”. It can be found only in some points of the Volta Grande do Xingu, in the city of Altamira, in Pará.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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